"If you have a business, you have to get your name out there.

You have to market yourself. You have to advertise. Advertising sells."

This seems to be the battle cry of almost every business school and every conventional business.

To add insult to injury, we sometimes hear, "it really doesn’t matter what you have to sell or how good it is.

As long as you can advertise and market it well, you will sell."

Perhaps there is a lot of truth in these sayings and guidelines. However, there is a basic assumption underlying this approach.

The assumption is that people are stupid. Or a milder version of the same is to say people believe their eyes, if you manage to be there enough times.

Or people are prone to being hypnotized by the constant media barrage. That our collective psyche can be played with, molded and formed in any way our marketing and advertising gurus decide, provided there is enough money behind it.

Perhaps there is a large element of truth in this also, in so far as it reflects our society.

And this raises a number of questions. Can this work as a long term approach and is it moral? The answer to which is no and no.

Perhaps this kind of campaign can create fads or at best work in the short term, but unless there is some value offered, it cannot be sustained for long.

Just remember how many mediocre products and services have fallen by the way side. Just look at how many well-advertised products became obsolete, and the list continues.

As for its morality, there are two aspects to be considered. One is that any service or product that is not offered with excellence, leaves a gap between the ideal achievable and the achieved.

This results in wastefulness. Waste of resources, energy, money, time, as well as intelligence. And that in itself is morally lacking.

Furthermore, in addition to the wasted resources in creation of the product or service, much energy is expended on creating a marketing or advertising campaign, only to offer mediocrity.

If only we would spend the same intelligence and resources on our products and services as we spend on selling them…

Yet there are those small businesses that offer products and services of very high quality and value. They only go for excellence, and not necessarily at expensive prices. These businesses seem to have very little advertising budget.

They predominantly, and in some cases totally rely on word of mouth and customer satisfaction to bring them referrals and new customers. Many restaurants operate this way. Healing professionals such as doctors, chiropractors and such like operate mainly that way.

At least the good ones do. Certain products seem to take off slowly but surely because they are made with excellence. And so on. Yet we never hear of any of them becoming overnight successes. At least not to the meteoric standards that devout advertisers do.

So are the advertisers banking on the ignorance of the masses?

Perhaps the end of this millennium will mark a change in our consciousness. A change from reliance on what we hear and see, to a reliance on ourselves.

Perhaps we the consumers will start taking responsibility for our purchases and only opt for excellence and quality, instead of what was the latest fad, the newest brand name and designer label, or the funkiest ad on TV.

And with our taking responsibility for our purchases, perhaps the producers will start taking notice, start spending less on advertising and trying to convince us to buy, and spend more on quality, thus giving us reason to buy.

After all, the biggest enemy of excellence is mediocrity.

What comes to mind is a poem from ancient times, which loosely translated goes something like this:

Perfume is what fragrantly smells

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com

Once upon a time, in a far far away land, there was a candle who loved to travel.

Now this was just an ordinary candle, but it differed from other candles because it was lit. It had a flame that was constantly eating it away, and making it smaller.

But this candle honored its candleness, and loved to shine its light on the world, no matter how insignificant it was.

Most other candles would look at it and laugh, calling it a "fool" for allowing this flame to burn it up. However, the candle was not concerned with what other candles called it. It simply continued shining its light.

Because of its difference with other candles, because of its flame, it would not stay in any one place for long. It would simply travel from one part of the land to another.

Every now an again during its travels, a younger candle would come up to it and ask, "what is that on your head?" and the candle would gently explain, "it is what is called a flame. It is what we, candles are made for.

To burn our body of wax, and shine our light on the world." And occasionally one of the young ones would ask, "how can I get one?" to which the candle would simply lean forward and say, "here, share mine...."

Usually the young ones would be surprised with this candle's generosity, but the candle would simply explain, "our essence as candles is to shine our light and share our flame, our flame of desire to be who we are.

And when we share our flame with others, not only we don't detract from our own candleness, but we also add to the total flame and light of the world. We give another candle permission to discover its essence and be what it is, a candle, created for shining its light.

"But let me warn you," the candle would continue, "it is not easy expressing who you are. Most of the candles laugh at us, and think of us as fools who are committing a slow suicide, because they are mesmerized by their collective illusion of permanence and immortality as unlit candles.

They think just because they are not burning, they will never perish. How little do they know. They do not see that they are also mortal. But more importantly, they will never experience the joy of being who they are, and giving the world their unique light."

And shortly after initiating a young candle with its flame, the candle would travel to the next place in that land.

The candle continued doing this for most of its life. Moving from one dark place to another, and every so often initiating yet another candle with its flame.

One night however, when it was very near the end of its life, it settled its short body down with its flame dimming, and sighed a plume of smoke. It was thinking of all its journeys and all its initiations.

It had been very interesting and had brought him a lot of fun. Yet the old candle had a yearning in its heart, which it could not quite point out.

So it continued meditating on its dimming flame with a melancholic heart, until the question popped out. It asked itself, "to what avail?

What difference has it made?"

And then a deluge of thoughts came upon it, almost drowning its flame in its sorrow.

"What have I done other than fool myself into this lonely journey through many lands.

What difference have I made?

Sure I have lit up a few other candles, but what have I brought them other than the same loneliness and misery?

I thought I was bringing good to this land, but all I have become is a source of heartache and slow death."

It was at this time that a strong moth that was passing by saw the flame and came towards it. Seeing the flickering of the dimming flame it connected with the spirit of the candle through its light, and felt the sorrow of the candle.

Then the moth said to the candle, "no, no, you mustn't think that way.

You don't realize what difference you have made to this land because you have been constantly traveling forward, and never once returned to one of the places where you had touched a life or two.

"Here, I give you the gift of my eyes.

Project your soul into my body, and I will fly you to many of the places you had passed through.

You can see for yourself through my eyes."

And with this, the moth took on the soul of the candle and started flying over the many lands the candle had passed through.

From high up in the air, even from a long way away, the candle could see many small flickering lights, and as they got closer to each place, the candle saw that these were many individual candles who had discovered their candleness and were burning as brightly as they could.

The soul of the candle felt much joy at this, but could not understand what this had to do with it. So the moth explained:

"In this place, for instance, you brought your light and shared your flame with a small young candle.

This young candle felt much joy and started shining its light upon its friends. Its friends saw the young candle's happiness and wanted to experience the same thing, so they shared the same flame, and they passed it on to their friends and family, and before long, the whole place was lit up.

"In the last place that we visited, a much smaller candle was the one that approached you. It lit up in joy and shared its light with other candles for a while.

But because it was small, it burned up very quickly and disappeared. Then the other candles created this legend of the small brilliant candle who brought much light and joy to them, and then, in its prime, went out with the same intensity as it lived.

"No other candle was alight there, until some time later, when another lit candle from a neighboring place happened to pass by.

The candles seeing this once in a lifetime opportunity asked it to share its flame with them, which it gladly did, and now, as you saw, the whole place is shining bright.

"You see old candle, you may have lit but a few.

They in turn however, lit up the whole land." With this, the moth took the soul of the candle back to its body.

By this time, the candle was weeping intensely and joyously, its flame growing bigger and bigger, until it consumed both the moth and the remaining wax of the candle.

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com

The more I look around and the more I look inside me, the more I am convinced of those old words of wisdom: "as above, so below; as within, so without."

I used to think that there were many problems in the world and that it was our duty to be of service, to help eliminate these problems in our own little ways.

Phrases such as "Think globally, act locally" were quite attractive and alluring. I was also a victim of my own misunderstanding.

I was yet another one, drawn towards saving the world.

Now as I am growing older and hopefully wiser, I have a different outlook. I have learnt how to look within as well as without.

And I see so many similarities that I am astounded and even perplexed.

I recognize that every problem that I see with the world is a simple reflection of another problem within myself, my family, and my community.

I see the pollution in the world, and it reminds me of the poisoning of my own body.

I see the increasing agricultural dependence on fertilizers and pesticides and other chemicals, and I see my own increasing need for vitamins, minerals and other synthetic supplements.

I see the protected natural water reservoirs and I see my own consumption of bottled water.

I see our increasing need for packaging and transportation of food from one part to another part of the planet, and I see my own extreme reliance on packaged foods and supermarkets.

I see how so many large agricultural cartels produce so much of the world's food, and I see how fewer and fewer giant mega-stores and large supermarkets control more and more of the delivery of my food to me.

I see large areas of old growth forest devastated by clear cutting, and I see a bald cancer patient undergoing radiation therapy walking past me.

I see the deception of our politicians and the failure of our political system, and I see the tendencies of my own ego, twisting and turning my own words, to convince my mind and my body to do things that my conscience has forbidden.

I see the general public dissatisfaction with the political system and the people's complacency to the extent of giving up any kind of direct action, and I see my own conscience taking a back seat to my ego's choices and decisions.

I see the abuse of public funds both in governments and charities, and I see my own propensity to put comfort above conscience.

I see the public reluctance to vote and I see my own tendency to not make choices.

I see the public fascination with the mind numbing programs on television, and I see my own habitual excursions into flights of fantasy.

I see the law enforcement problems in our country, and I see my own lack of self discipline in my own family, my own work, my own relationships, and even in the way I treat myself.

I see that our society values material achievements above making a difference, and I see my own preference to accumulate goods and status symbols, over being of significance.

I see a world striving to succeed, and I see that I want to be successful.

I see fierce competition in a dog-eat-dog world, and I train myself with a lot of dedication to win the game of my life.

I see a world fascinated with making small areas clean and healthy, and I see my own fascination with fitness, dieting, cleansing, fasting and any other way to remove any symptoms of disease from my body.

I see a world still full of discrimination, all be it covert and subliminal, and I see my own tendencies to stereotype, group, pigeon hole, and create in-groups vs. others for myself.

I see the unprecedented violence and war and destruction, as well as our immense capacity to destroy our planet, and I notice the rise in violence and abuse in the family, even the self-abuse that we subject ourselves to, and ultimately the rise in the incidents of suicide.

I also notice the more innovative, deadly and sophisticated ways in which we are creating this abuse, directly reflecting the immense destructive technologies that we have created in our world.

I see the increasing incidents of child and spousal abuse and I see my own tendency to ignore my inner child and neglect my inner female or male energies as the case may be.

I see the rigid organization of religions and spiritual creeds, and concretization of dogma and rituals, and I see my own tendency to create personal rituals for myself, hoping that they will promote my spiritual growth, and lead to my salvation.

I see the accelerating trend to move towards fundamentalism, and I see my own inclination to run towards my old and outdated comfort zones.

I see a world fascinated with technological advancement, with or without the necessary moral understanding, and I see that I am enchanted with every form of technological gadget that is being offered to me.

I see a legal system that has become a burden to the society, which is more interested in its own bureaucratic perpetuation than upholding truth and justice, and I see myself doggedly adhering to laws and diligently fulfilling bureaucratic requirements, even if I do not believe in them, and even if I consider them unjust and immoral.

I see a world that is focusing on effects, remedying every problem in hand, and I see myself going to doctors, healers, accountants, lawyers, therapists and even psychics to find remedies to solve my latest issues.

I see a world that is destroying more and more of the natural habitat, giving less and less room to other species and ultimately forcing them into the downward spiral of destruction and extinction, and I see friends being forced out of jobs because of corporate downsizing, forced out of relationships because of unhappy partners, and forced out of their homes because of bankruptcies.

But I also see a world with a number of rebels who are advocating a different way of living, small pockets of communities who have created their own local economies and their healthier and more respectful ways of life, and I see individuals who are rejecting the status quo, and opting for honoring their ideals instead of the socially expected norms.

I see small and sometimes large groups and organizations who are trying to bring compassion and caring into this world, and I notice the odd individual who does do something without any expectation, only because he/she cares. I even sometimes catch myself doing a random act of kindness.

I see more and more communities taking responsibility for their own well being, and I notice that increasingly I have been taking responsibility for my own affairs.

I see a world generally seeking peace and becoming more and more creative in finding ways of bringing peaceful solutions.

I also notice our individual ways of bringing peace and harmony to our lives and our neighborhoods.

Even living peacefully, side by side with the animals and plants and our planet.

I see a general resurgence of interest in spirituality, and I see my own increased interest in understanding my own soul and my own spiritual path and purpose.

The question is not whether this inter-reflection is there or not.

The question is whether we can and should change our world from without or from within, or perhaps both?

My own view is that there is only one root cause of all the problems in the world, and if we remedy and eradicate that cause, then every other problem that is caused by this will either be automatically resolved or simply dissolved as a byproduct.

The main and only root cause is that we face a "crisis of perception".

If we simply change the way we look at the world, if we begin to find the right or at least the more correct perspective, then we will understand everything more accurately.

We will then be asking the more relevant and appropriate questions and consequently find the pertinent solutions and remedies.

Simplistic? Perhaps! And what if this is the right approach?

Simplistic it may be, but at least in my experience, most truths have an economy and simplicity to them, a kind of simple beauty and grace.

My solution to the problems of the world is to not concern myself with the problems of the world.

But to only focus on my own existence and its associated problems.

To align myself with my conscience.

To not allow social duties and expectations dictate what I do or how I live.

In the words of James Joyce to: "...not serve that in which I no longer believe".

To live from the inner fountain of my soul. To do the things that inspire and energize me. To serve those values that make me lose sense of time and space and fatigue. To not be concerned with opulence, nor status, nor duty. In the words of Joseph Campbell: "to follow my bliss!" This on the surface may sound individualistic and will only lead to anarchy. But how can it, if I follow the wishes of my soul? How can my inner or higher guidance lead me and my world to a situation that is reeking of havoc and pestilence? How can it not direct me to my best state of well being, which will automatically include a world that is harmonious, loving and wise. Of course this is all provided that I believe in the existence of a higher guidance or inner mind. That I have faith that the universe is based on law and order and operates with a loving and harmonious tendency.

But even if I don't, and I only think of my own well being, then if I consider its long term implications wisely, I will have no alternative but to reject violence and greed and hate and above all fear. It will be in my best long term interest to "follow my bliss", for following my bliss is doing the right thing, because it is the right thing to do.

It is the best way I know to bring joy to my life.

A joy that I will carry with me till death and maybe even beyond.

And if the maxim "as above, so below; as within, so without" is true, then if I am joyous and blissful, then the world has no alternative but to be blissful and joyous.

Fixing the world is an inside job. How can it be otherwise?

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com

For a long time, I had been saying that everything is "thought" in essence, and "energy" in nature.

But somehow I knew that that was lacking something. "Thought" is either too intellectual, lacking heart and soul, or it is too much information oriented, i.e. only memory or data, thus lacking substance.

Also "energy" is somewhat too physical.

Furthermore, "energy" itself is really of the same essence as everything else, namely the so called "thought".

Until it dawned upon me that the problem had been that I was trying to understand the world in a quantitative way.

I was being a reductionist without realizing it.

How can I even try to reduce things to "thought" as the "thing" which is the essence of everything including energy, and "energy" as the "thing" which is the nature of everything, including "thought".

The flaw however, I realized was not in my definition of things so much as in my approach.

If I want to define the world and everything in it, I can only define it qualitatively, in terms of an intangible, not a thing.

Now I realize that where my thinking was leading to was right, but the milestone that I had reached was not the end, but simply a stepping stone to move from quantity to quality.

Now I realize that the essence of everything, physical or non-physical, tangible or intangible, is "consciousness".

"Thought" is simply an aspect or dimension of "consciousness".

This new definition, namely "consciousness", has a heart and a soul, because other dimensions or aspects of "consciousness" include "love" and "faith".

Furthermore, the nature of everything is "flow" or "flux".

"Energy" is simply a physical entity that flows.

But so do life, matter, knowledge, money, power, relationships and everything else, physical or ethereal, tangible or intangible.

Not only that, the essence of "flow" is "consciousness", and the nature of "consciousness" is "flow", whether it is thought, love or faith.

It is interesting to see that the whole physical, quantitative universe that we live in is made up of simply qualitative and descriptive definitions.

And that these definitions are inter-related and interdependent.

That one describes the nature of the other, while the other defines the essence of the first.

How sweet it is to realize that all that exists can only be reduced to quality, if it can be reduced at all.

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com

We also know that the function of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body. In other words, the heart is the organ that pumps the vital life energy contained in our blood, in the form of food, oxygen and whatever else we need. It also retrieves much of the waste that is produced by our body and delivers it to the appropriate places.

But the functioning of the heart itself is regulated through the electrical impulses generated by our nervous system. And this last point is very significant.

The heart is simply a pump, without the autonomy to make its own decisions. It is an instrument that obeys the orders of its regulator through the electrical impulses it receives.

Furthermore, the heart is oblivious to the quality of the blood that it pumps. The heart is not aware whether it is pumping highly vitalized and nourishing blood, or blood that contains much waste and little sustenance.

The mind of the regulator is what determines whether the heart should beat faster and re-vitalize the blood more, or whether it should slow down and reduce the stress on the heart and the rest of the body. There is a mind that is not in the heart, but contains and regulates it.

Similarly, we are told that our mind is constantly thinking; that it follows one thought with another, whether in wakeful consciousness or in dreaming and sleeping.

That the functions of our body are constantly regulated through our autonomous nervous system, even when we are in a coma.

And this signifies that our mind is constantly working, whether we are conscious of it or not. Even in the case of meditation our mind is still constantly working.

In fact, the role of meditation is to quiet the working of the conscious mind to an extent that we can open the floodgates of inspiration.

But the mind, much like the heart, is completely indifferent to the quality and kind of thoughts that are going through it. The mind treats all thoughts simply as that, just thoughts.

The mind is a pump of mental information and energy.

What really regulates the working of our minds and the quality of what is pumped through it is something that transcends the mind.

It is our true Self. Call it soul, spirit, the higher mind, the small still voice within, the Self.... they are all one and the same thing.

The transcendent regulator of the mind.

But we also know that thoughts have creative power, much like the blood has sustaining power.

So it is the next logical step to deduce that the heart is the sustaining pump, while the mind is the creative pump.

In other words, we are truly created in the image of God, God the Creator and God the Sustainer.

And the instruments or devices that we use are the two pumps, the heart and the mind.

Does this have any implications in our daily lives?

The answer is an emphatic "Yes".

We easily recognize the heart as a physical pump of blood, the fluid that circulates nourishment and sustenance in our body.

In the same way, we should recognize the mind as the pump of mental energy, the invisible energy that creates our physical state of being and environment.

Just as the nervous system, and not the heart itself, is what controls the workings of the heart, the true Self, and not the mind itself, is what controls the workings of the mind.

Just as the regulator of the heart will direct its operations and effectiveness, the regulator of the mind will also direct its processes and accomplishments.

The nervous system has the choice to speed up or slow down the heart, mainly automatically, but often it can accomplish the same results through the conscious choice of the owner of the heart, as has been documented in many experiments in biofeedback.

Similarly, we should recognize ourselves as the real chooser behind the workings of our minds, even though currently, the majority of humanity seems to simply and automatically react to external circumstances.

When we learn through the metaphysical teachings of the ages that we can use our minds to change our circumstances, we are simply being given the understanding that we choose how our minds, this pump of creative mental energy, works.

Simply choose, and have the faith that the mind will deliver, just like when we run, we simply choose to run, having unspoken faith that the heart will deliver the necessary food and oxygen.

But how do we choose, if not through our minds? Who chooses?

It is not the mind that chooses, but the operator and the owner of the mind.

And the best way we can approach this is by tuning our minds to the Infinite, the God mind, and then through inspiration, intuition, or simple guidance of our conscience, our true Self, our soul by any other name, we know how and what to choose.

Our true Self has always been there to guide us in making the right choices.

All we need to do is to ask and listen.

We are also given the tools to transform our dreams and choices into physical reality.

The Pump is that tool, that servant, that gift from our Creator.

We are the operators of these tools, and we can choose to use them to our benefit or otherwise.

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com

The Webster Dictionary defines "Fundamental" as: of or forming a foundation or basis; basic; essential.

Therefore its derivative word, "Fundamentalism", should mean adherence to basics and essentials, the philosophy of going back to the roots and foundations.

Then how come all the fundamentalist sects and movements that we encounter are extremists, and seemingly so far from the essentials?

Fundamentalism in our society, whether it is religious, political, or sociological, generally refers to literal interpretation of the rules, written or unwritten.

Whether we look at Christian or Islamic fundamentalists, or ultra-right conservative fundamentalists, or even groups such as environmental fundamentalists, what we encounter is extremism in orthodoxy, a mirror image of extreme radicalism.

So in reality, it is not fundamentalism which is the problem. The real issue is the attitudes to which we have given that label.

If we really separate this extremism from its undeservedly acquired label, we can openly look at the real value of fundamentalism.

For instance, when we look at our investment behavior, we are constantly driven by the greedy attitude of finding higher return - higher risk vehicles to maximize our gains during the limited time that we have in this world.

As a result, we are constantly attracted to more and more exotic investment vehicles.

We become so technology dependent in our approaches, so involved in the games and the ups and downs of the markets, that we completely forget the fundamental rules of return.

While we hear about the derivatives, options, futures and so on, we completely forget the first and cardinal rule of investment: Buy Low, Sell High.

We all take it for granted that this simple rule is of course an inherent part of our strategy, yet when the market is low and it is time to buy, we expect it to go lower.

And it doesn't, it actually goes higher. At this time, we have the belief that it is going to come down again, so we wait for it to come down, and of course it doesn't. It goes higher and even higher.

And when it is so high that it is time to sell, we acquire the false belief that the market has been going up, and it will continue to do so.

Then we buy when it is high. And of course the market comes down. We then kid ourselves that it was once high and it will return to the same and higher levels. And it goes lower, and lower, and lower...

And again, when it is time to buy, we panic that there is no bottom to this trend, and we sell. And the cycle continues.

So while we laugh at the notion of Buy Low, Sell High, in reality we practice the exact opposite: Buy high, sell low. So much for sophistication of our high return vehicles.

When the fundamentals are lacking, we will simply go faster towards oblivion.

Let us consider our relationships and love life. Perhaps the most fundamental rule here is that it takes two people to form a relationship.

It is seemingly obvious, even absurd. But many of us, time and again in our lives have fantasized about a certain person.

Dreamed of how it would be like when we finally get together, and continue this for months and even years. Until the other person finds somebody else and shatters our relationship.... the one that never existed.

At other times, we are in a fine and loving relationship, or so we think, and simply because we are not communicating with our partner, the other person in the relationship, we are completely shocked and surprised to find out that our partner is quite upset or even disappointed with our relationship.... and so it continues.

Even in our spiritual lives, we are so absorbed with the rules and teachings of our religion or belief that we completely forget why they were ever created.... to provide us a structured path to explore our spirituality, and ultimately to touch the divine within us, and allow it to express itself in relation to the divine outside of us; and ultimately merge the two, to make the divine within and without, one and the same.

Instead, we focus on the steps which have ossified in our lives to the extent that we have become living fossils, going about our daily lives without thinking, accusing and blaming everyone else while preaching love, trying to fix the problems of the world while completely ignoring and even avoiding our own shortcomings, even killing in the name of compassion, because our religion is the ultimate religion and our god is the ultimate supreme being.

We claim that there is only one God, yet we dedicate our lives to destroying other Gods.

Again we are so absorbed in the games of religions that we completely bypass the fundamental needs of our spirit.

So from whoever that says I am a fundamentalist, we should ask: "And what are the fundamental beliefs that you follow?"

And from whoever that says fundamentalism is wrong, we should ask: "How can you have the superficial and trivial without the fundamental?"

Aminah.alqaem.org

www.aminah.shiahosting.com